Erin Murphy
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Life Scences A 209-C 400 E Tyler Mall Tempe, AZ 85281
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Mail code: 4601Campus: Tempe
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Erin Murphy is a marine conservation ecologist conducting policy-driven research to improve the social and ecological health of coastal communities. She is currently working as a post-doctoral researcher with Ocean Conservancy to study ecological consequences of plastic pollution and the benefits of marine debris removal. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Arizona State University, where she researches the social-ecological consequences of coastal pollution and intervention efficacy.
She completed her Ph.D. in Biology at Arizona State University in the Biology and Society Program, advised by Dr. Leah Gerber and Dr. Beth Polidoro. Her dissertation research focused on the impacts of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems. Specifically, she conducted research and developed tools to inform more effective, cost-efficient, and equitable intervention strategies for marine plastic pollution.
Outside of academic research, Erin is committed to policy research and development. Before entering her Ph.D. program, she worked as an ORISE research fellow in the EPA's Ocean and Coastal Management Branch, in Washington D.C. In this role, she developed recommendations for federal vessel sewage standards and Florida turbidity standards. For the past five years, she has worked to inform plastic policy with several non-profit organizations across scales of governance.
Ph.D. in Biology (focus in Biology and Society), Arizona State University, 2023
Masters in Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015
B.Sc. in Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013
Marine Conservation
Marine pollution and Plastic Pollution
Sustainable Fisheries Management
Environmental Policy and Decision Science
Murphy, E. L., Fredette-Roman, C., Rochman, C. M., Gerber, L. R., & Polidoro, B. (2023). A multi-taxonomic, trait-based framework for assessing macroplastic vulnerability. Science of The Total Environment, 164563.
Murphy, E. L., Polidoro, B., & Gerber, L. R. (2023). The plastic-scape: Applying seascape ecology to marine plastic pollution. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, 980835.
Murphy, E. L., Bernard, M., Iacona, G., Borrelle, S. B., Barnes, M., McGivern, A., ... & Gerber, L. R. (2022). A decision framework for estimating the cost of marine plastic pollution interventions. Conservation Biology, 36(2), e13827.
Helm, L. T., Murphy, E. L., McGivern, A., & Borrelle, S. B. (2022). Impacts of plastic waste management strategies. Environmental Reviews, 31(1), 45-65.
Murphy, E. L., Eikenberry, S., Iacona, G, Watson, G, & Gerber, L. R. (2021) The value of increased spatial resolution of pesticide usage data for assessing risk to endangered species. Conservation Science and Practice. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/csp2.551
Murphy, E. L., Bernard, M., Gerber, L. R., & K. Dooley. (2021) Evaluating the role of market-based instruments in protecting marine ecosystem services in wild-caught fisheries. Ecosystem services. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041621001145
Cramer, K. L., Bernard, M. L., Bernat, I., Gutierrez, L., Murphy, E. L., Sangolquí, P, Surrey, K., Gerber, L. R. (2021). The present and future status of ecosystem services for coral reef. Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation.
Kittinger, J., Bernard, M., Finkbeiner, E., Murphy, E., Obregon, P. Klinger, D. H., Schoon, M. L., Dooley, K. J., & Gerber, L. R. (2021) Integrating market incentives and governance improvements for sustainable ocean production at the ecosystem scale. Conservation Science and Practice. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.386
Murphy, E. L., Bernard, M., Helm, L., Hill, I & Tunas-Corzon, A. (2020) Policy Recommendations to reinvigorate recycling in Arizona. The Journal of Science Policy & Governance. sciencepolicyjournal.org/article_1038126_jspg170115.html
Borrelle, S. B., Ringma, J., Law, K. L., Mannahan, C. C., Lebreton, L., McGivern, A., Murphy E., Jambeck, J., Leonard, G. H., Hilleary, M. A., Eriksen, M., Possingham, H. P., Gerber, L. R., Polidoro, B., Tahir, A., Bernard, M., De Frond, H., Mallos, N., Barnes, M., & Rockman C. M. (2020) Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate marine plastic pollution. Science. science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aba3656
Eikenberry, S., Iacona, G., Murphy, E. L., Watson, G., Gerber, L. R. (In review) Identifying immediate opportunities for high resolution pesticide usage data to improve the efficiency of endangered species pesticide risk assessment. roceedings in the National Academy of Science.
U.S. EPA. Vessel Sewage in U.S. Waters: An Analysis of Current Regulations. Washington, DC. In review.
Plastic Pollution Emissions Working Group. Evaluating the impact of mitigation strategies for marine litter and microplastics to inform policy: A white paper. 2018. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/0e7900_c5645ab3497f489f92e7330f1fe48ce3…
Courses
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
2020 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 312 | Bioethics |
| BIO 312 | Bioethics |
| BIO 312 | Bioethics |
2019 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 181 | General Biology I |
| BIO 181 | General Biology I |